


That’s What It Is: a Wonderful Beginning

by Aesoleucian



Series: Under Waterfall's Umbrella [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: in later chapters there's going to be a bit of gore but it's not bad compared to canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-07-29 19:16:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 9,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7696129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aesoleucian/pseuds/Aesoleucian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Itachi has managed to make a family for himself in Taki, and he's content to quietly protect those he loves. Unfortunately, sometimes the ninja geopolitical situation is shitty because of a weird snake-man's machinations, and you just have to deal with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back in business! This one is a little shorter and has more jinchuuriki. It's also named after an incredibly vague line from Black Night Town. Will be updating once a day, may or may not be illustrated.

“I heard from Ishi-sensei you managed to wrangle a job as our chaperone,” says Fuu.

Itachi doesn’t look up from the dumplings he’s making, but hums.

“There’s no way he’d stay away,” says Sasuke. “Itachi’s afraid I’d stub my toe fatally during the written exam and he’d have to weep dramatically over my corpse. Which, as we know, he’d be no good at.”

“I leave the dramatics to Shisui,” says Itachi. “As we know, he’s a natural.”

“When’s he coming back?” asks Sasuke. “He said his mission shouldn’t take longer than a day and it’s been twenty- _eight_ hours.”

Itachi doesn’t want the reminder. He’s not entirely comfortable, still, with his family going on dangerous missions. The best way he has found to protect them is as Shibuki’s administrative assistant, vetting their missions. Sasuke has told him many times to stop, but Shisui understands. Itachi even thinks he might find it comforting, and it’s perfectly in line with their shared philosophy of defending the ones he loves from the shadows.

“Patience,” says Itachi. “Our cousin is closer than you think.” Shisui is walking up the steps to the house, and neither Sasuke nor Fuu is in the habit of keeping their senses on high alert for approaching chakra signatures. Even after four years, Itachi hasn’t been willing to give that up.

“I’m hoooome,” calls Shisui from the doorway. “I’m starving, is there food?” Having immediately identified Itachi as a potential food source, he comes to rest his chin on Itachi’s shoulder. “Dumplings!” he says happily, leaning his head into Itachi’s.

“So how was it?” demands Sasuke. “Weren’t you near Thunder Country? Did you have any trouble with Kumo nin?”

“None at all! I think they’re being extra polite for the upcoming chuunin exam, which I guess means they plan on entering some genin. I know the whole thing between Suna and Konoha has made them a little wary about entering.”

“I can’t wait to meet them,” says Fuu. “I love to meet people from different cultures but it’s so _hard_ in a tiny country like Cliff. No-one ever comes through here.”

“I feel sorry for the Suna genin who will have to take the exam in Kiri,” says Sasuke, shoving Shisui aside to start scooping dumplings out of the pot.

“Not sorry enough to not destroy them, though,” adds Fuu.

“Chikusa’s going to love it there,” says Sasuke. “Her quicksand release will be—hey!” Shisui flickers away, having stolen Sasuke’s bowl of dumplings. Unfortunately for him, Sasuke seems to have predicted where he would go, and follows to take them back in a blur of chopsticks.

“I regret ever teaching you body flicker,” says Shisui sourly.

“You didn’t teach me,” says Sasuke around a mouthful of dumpling. “Itachi did. You’re useless to me now.”

“My own little cousin! My adored cousin who I raised from a baby! I remember when your demon cat only had two tails, and you were _this_ tall!”

Itachi looks over his shoulder at Fuu, raising his eyebrows. _See? Dramatics_. She giggles and comes over to get the newest batch of dumplings while Sasuke and Shisui are arguing.

“How is your gale palm technique coming?” Itachi asks her.

“Ehhh,” she says. “I don’t think I’ll be able to use it in the exam. At least I have blade of wind, that makes a really good combination with Sasuke’s fireballs. We’re thinking of calling it _cutting inferno._ ”

“A good combination can be _controlled_ ,” Itachi says softly. “I’ve seen the results of that one, and I would say it needs more work.”

“Itachi! The exam is in _Kiri_ , it’s not like we’ll be able to set _that much_ stuff on fire.”

“After the exam, then,” he says. “I’ll help you work on it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s not really any good reason for Yagura to host a chuunin exam. Maybe they’re trying to show off how… non-bloody the mist is lately? Nobody else has hosted a chuunin exam for a few years because of ~international tensions~ and I guess Kiri wanted to participate in the tradition of not murdering people to become a chuunin. The real reason is, I just wanted to make the joke about not being able to set that much stuff on fire, and then subsequently have them set EVERYTHING on fire.
> 
> Also, I arbitrarily decided that the country Taki is in is Cliff Country, because it doesn’t really say anywhere, and you can’t have a waterfall without a cliff.


	2. Chapter 2

Itachi does not enjoy Kirigakure in the summer. It’s oppressively humid, and unless he wants to keep his sharingan activated at all times the fog limits his vision. Fuu seems to enjoy it, though. She’s practically buzzing—not a figure of speech in her case, because she has recently learned how to manifest her bijuu’s wings and is trying not to float off the ground in her excitement. Shibuki has given her strict instructions not to let anyone know she’s a jinchuuriki—privately, Itachi thinks that will last until ten minutes into the second phase of the exam.

When the Taki group enters the hotel, Fuu immediately runs off to see if she can find any genin from other countries to pester. Itachi watches in amusement as Sasuke and Chikusa run to catch up. They should be all right—Chikusa at least has some sense of self-preservation and will try to keep her team in line. Itachi directs the rest of the Taki genin to their rooms, then sits down in the lobby with a book to take stock of everyone else who comes through.

Itachi doesn’t look like a ninja, because officially he’s not any more. He could be a civilian with his loose kimono and folder full of paperwork. He is also suppressing his chakra, just to make sure no-one looks twice at him.

In the next hour, the Konoha group arrives. Itachi takes note of this generation’s Ino-Shika-Chou team, and the two teams with Uchiha. One is Kamisa’s team, which failed the last exam, and the other has both Uchiha Haromo and Uzumaki Naruto, the nine-tails jinchuuriki. Itachi raises his eyebrows at that—those two must be a volatile combination, judging by the way they’re arguing and their teammate’s long-suffering look. The Suna group is very small—they must be losing a lot of genin-age ninjas to the border skirmish with Fire Country, even more than Konoha—but notably there is a team consisting of three people who look very much like the fourth Kazekage. Their ages are further apart than is normal in a genin team, which leads Itachi to conclude that they are siblings, but the two older children are subtly trying very hard not to be near their younger brother. Itachi has seen that body language and felt that poorly-suppressed chakra before, and he knows what it means: there are three jinchuuriki at this year’s chuunin exam. This could be trouble.

Just to make sure, he stays to wait for the Kumo, Ame, and Oto genin… and he’s glad he did. One of the Oto nin reeks of incompletely-suppressed and powerful chakra, and of malice. After the last group has passed through the lobby of the hotel, Itachi goes to the mostly-empty suite assigned to Taki. Chikusa and one of her friends are attempting to take a nap. When she hears Itachi come in, she opens one eye and mutters, “Don’t blame me if your brother and sister get into trouble. I claim no responsibility. I’m just grateful for the peace and quiet.”

“I understand you completely,” Itachi assures her. And he goes out into the village to track his siblings.

                                         

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My design goal for Haromo was basically "how Obito can I make her look?"  
> ...and Naruto's still the shortest member of team 7. PROBABLY because he eats nothing but ramen.


	3. Chapter 3

He finds Fuu and Sasuke sparring at one of the training grounds, having challenged a team of Kumo genin to a taijutsu-only match. Itachi watches for a while, proud of their progress. The match is a foregone conclusion, because they have been ready to become chuunin for two years.

More interesting is what happens afterward. Itachi has not been their only observer; Suna’s jinchuuriki steps forward to challenge Sasuke, introducing himself as Gaara (no family name, because if Itachi recalls correctly his father renounced any clan when he became Kazekage). Fuu demands to fight Gaara too—she wasn’t able to show her true skill in a taijutsu match, because she is better with genjutsu and ninjutsu, and she’s always gotten offended when anyone assumes Sasuke is better than her. He tries to silence her with a hail of sand kunai, and it turns into a _real_ fight. Gaara’s siblings hang back, unsure if they should defend their brother, making it one on two.

Yet the advantage is Gaara’s, because he seems to have no concept of collateral damage. When the wings flick out of Fuu’s back and she jumps into the air, Itachi decides it’s time to intervene. He flickers to stand directly in front of Gaara and activates his sharingan, freezing him in place.

“Please return to the hotel,” he says to all the assembled genin, including the Kumo nin hiding out behind one of the sturdier trees at the edge of the training ground. “There will be enough time to try to kill each other during the second phase of the exam, and I would rather you all stayed in one piece until then.”

As the rest of the genin disperse, Itachi turns to Fuu and says in a low voice, “How common do you think the power to manifest wings is, little sister?”

“They won’t know what it means,” she mumbles. “I bet none of them even knows what kind of… thing Choumei is. Not even… Well, _he_ might have figured it out, if Shukaku told him.”

“Shukaku?” asks Sasuke, who is hovering behind Fuu’s shoulder, still ready to fight.

“Shukaku is number one to our lucky seven,” whispers Fuu. “Choumei doesn’t like him. I don’t think _anyone_ likes him, really. I still want to try talking to them in private, though.”

“There’s _another_ j—one here?” hisses Sasuke. “This is going to suck. No wonder he’s so powerful.”

“Two, actually,” says Itachi. “Sasuke, do you remember Uzumaki Naruto?”

“Don’t tell me that _idiot_ is one too. I barely remember him but he was _so obnoxious_. He kept trying to fight me even though I always kicked his ass in about ten seconds.” A fairly vivid lack of memory, Itachi thinks.

“He’s on a team with our cousin Haromo—I believe she is our father’s cousin by adoption, technically.” Itachi doesn’t mention that he heard her complaining about _Kakashi-sensei_ , which suggests that Sarutobi has finally decided Itachi’s old captain needs to be distracted from his debilitating emotional problems. Every time Sasuke hears Kakashi’s name he scowls and his chakra flares in anger. He is much more determined to bear a grudge than Itachi, who has done his best to forget what happened. It doesn’t work, because of his sharingan, but he hardly thinks about it any more.

“How do you know _everything_ ,” says Fuu admiringly. “Anyway, since you’re making us stop training you have to buy us dinner.”

“What I _said_ was that you should return to the hotel. They are serving dinner for free there.”

“How’d you get to be such a cheapskate?” asks Sasuke, falling in as Itachi starts back toward the hotel. “Weren’t our parents filthy rich?”

“I was being trained to run the clan,” Itachi reminds him. “I know all the expenses our father had to deal with.”

“And somehow you ended up running a whole village’s finances,” says Fuu, looking slyly at him. “You _love_ haggling for good deals and then proving how good your deals are with math. ‘Cause you’re a nerd.”

“I find it more soothing than fighting for my life,” Itachi says. “It’s a personal failing, Shisui says.”


	4. Chapter 4

The second phase of the exam is held in a labyrinth of rocky gray fingers, ten stories tall and sparsely covered in scrubby trees. Kiri knows the place as the Genjutsu Maze, because the fog and most of the creatures that live in it have perception-altering abilities. Halfway through the second phase, the Genjutsu Maze catches on fire, and Itachi isn’t able to learn why until hours later, although he has his suspicions.

He is waiting at the Sage’s Finger, a watchtower carved into the tallest of the rocky fingers and the destination of the exam participants, so he sees the smoke almost immediately. He activates his sharingan, searching for signs of Fuu and Sasuke’s team, but only finds four genin teams that he isn’t looking for.

His siblings do make it to the watchtower by midnight (the fourth team overall, and the first from Taki), and he rushes to question them. They're all exhausted, and Sasuke looks distinctly singed, which is foreboding considering his fire affinity. “Do you know anything about the massive fire that started nine hours ago?” he asks. Sasuke and Fuu grimace at each other. “The one that took twenty jounin to put out?”

“In our defense,” says Fuu, “that combination is _way_ more powerful when we’re stressed out. We didn’t know we could set _rocks_ on fire.”

“I can’t believe I ended up on a team with you two,” mumbles Chikusa, sooty face hidden in her sooty hands. “You’re a menace. It’s like herding demon cats.” She glares in Sasuke’s direction, as if to make the point that thanks to him she has actually had to herd demon cats. “In this case, it was justified, though. We were battling a Konoha team—”

“Haromo’s team!” Fuu puts in.

“Yes, that one. An Oto nin showed up—she couldn’t have possibly been a real genin—and attacked her. We tried to help them fight off the creepy one—”

“Fuu _unilaterally decided_ to help them fight off the creepy one,” says Sasuke. “Without consulting us.”

“Just because you’re trying to defeat someone doesn’t mean you can’t make friends with them,” says Fuu.

“Shut up, you two,” growls Chikusa. “ _Like I was saying_ , we tried to fight off the creepy Oto nin, but she was too strong for any of us to touch her with single attacks, so fire and wind here tried a combo.”

“It _worked_ ,” Fuu says. “She did leave.”

“Haromo passed out,” Sasuke points out. “So even if it was a good offense, as a defense it was flawed.” Itachi approves of his analysis, if not his methods.

To Itachi’s relief, Haromo’s team makes it to the tower the next morning. Itachi offers himself as a healer to clear smoke from their lungs, as he has already done for his siblings’ team. It also gives him a chance to probe Naruto’s chakra and determine that the nine-tails is still sleeping restlessly inside him.

During the process, Haromo is whispering nonstop questions at Sasuke about the disappearance of the three most prominent young Uchiha, which he steadfastly ignores. They have never properly met before, and he clearly feels that he doesn’t owe her an explanation. At that point, Naruto starts pestering him too, and he stomps away. “Keep them busy,” he mutters as he passes Fuu; she salutes with a broad grin.

“If you could direct your Uchiha-related questions to me,” she says, “I’ll be happy to avoid answering them in a much friendlier fashion than Stormcloud Sasuke. Uchiha Fuu, human relations.” And she bows.

“You’re not an Uchiha,” says Haromo, staring.

“Since that wasn’t a question, I don’t have to avoid answering it! How nice! I wasn’t born an Uchiha but Itachi and Shisui and Sasuke adopted me, so I am now.”

“You can’t just _become_ part of a clan,” says Haromo, at the same time as Naruto says “Who’s Shisui?”

The third member of the team hisses, “Did you ever pay attention in history class, Naruto? Shunshin no Shisui, the master of body flicker technique! He and Itachi-san both served on Kakashi-sensei’s old squad.”

“That’s not something you could have learned in history class,” Haromo says, amused. “You were snooping on Kakashi-sensei’s classified file, weren’t you, Sakura-chan?”

“Kakashi?” asks Fuu. “Isn’t he the bastard that—”

“Probably,” says Haromo.

“Yes,” says Itachi. “Please don’t mention it to Sasuke. I’d like to keep his blood pressure down while the exam is ongoing.”

Fuu giggles. “Yes, ma’am! Wait, so tell me about him. What’s he like? How much of a chance do me and Sasuke have of beating him up?”

“Pretty much zero,” says Sakura. “He’s an incredible ninja, but you wouldn’t know it from the way he acts. He’s _always_ late—”

“He reads shitty romance novels during training!” adds Haromo.

“He still hasn’t actually _taught_ us anything besides walking up trees,” Sakura continues.

“And his fake smile is _annoying as shit_!” says Naruto. “He calls us _cute_. I’m not _cute_.”

“I’m cute,” says Haromo. “And so’s Sakura-chan.”

None of this adds up with the Hatake Kakashi who was Itachi’s ANBU squad captain. The Kakashi he knew was terminally serious and carried out all operations with military precision. He would never use a term of endearment for anyone under his command. There is only one conclusion Itachi can come to. “He is putting on an act to aggravate you. Possibly with the secondary goal of hiding his true nature to prevent any emotional bond from forming.”

“Why did Shika get the _cool_ jounin instructor?” moans Naruto. “He and Kakashi deserve each other! D’you think they’d let us switch?”

“More importantly,” Itachi says, “are you all aware of who Orochimaru is? It was almost certainly him who attacked you.” The Konoha genin look at him blankly, so he continues, “He’s a missing-nin who was banished from Konoha for human experimentation. His modus operandi is taking over the bodies of ninjas with unique powers to extend his lifespan. From what my siblings have told me, he tried to put his cursed seal on Haromo-kun. He must have identified you as the most vulnerable member of the Uchiha clan because of your lack of immediate family.”

“Can you not?” mutters Haromo. “That’s kind of creepy, and also pretty rude.”

“Apologies. I thought you might want to know why he was targeting you.”

Smiling, Fuu leans against Itachi’s side and closes her eyes. “That’s my brother! Now, I for one have been up all night and I’m _so tired_. I’m ready to stop yapping and start napping. We can play cards later, I promise. But right now… shhh.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POLITICS  
> and Fuu

Itachi, who does not plan on sleeping, finds himself teaching Sakura the basics of medical jutsu. She’s a good student, easily the most sensible genin on Haromo’s team. She also mistakes Itachi, who is naturally taciturn, for a good listener. He supposes he does qualify as a good listener, because he pays careful attention to everything she says, sifting through it for clues about the political situation in Konoha.

A much larger clue comes in the form of a whispered conversation by two of the Konoha chaperones, who are standing just within Itachi’s peripheral vision, allowing him to activate his sharingan and read their lips.

“A message came from Lord Third,” says Sarutobi Asuma softly. “A raiding party from Suna made it through our first line of defense and set off a bomb at the south wall.”

“They’re looking for the attack that was meant to distract us from, right?” whispers his partner, Yuuhi Kurenai. “The Kazekage is too good a tactician to think a mission to attack the _wall_ would be worthwhile.”

“They’re looking for another attack, but they haven’t found evidence of one yet. That’s what’s worrying Lord Third.”

“Are the Suna party here at the exams going to try anything?” asks Kurenai. “The Kazekage’s children are here, and goodness knows they’re powerful enough to cause plenty of damage in a surprise attack.”

Asuma shakes his head slightly. “They won’t try to fight a war on two fronts, even if Kiri is too far away for any real battle. Jiraiya has been hanging around a supply town and he’s indicated that just fighting Konoha is draining Suna’s resources.”

“Not fast enough, in my opinion,” says Kurenai. She pauses. “I mean, not as fast as I would expect. I’d agree with Lord Third that someone is supplying them with food and weapons.”

“Jiraiya says he’s working on finding out who it is—he even bumped it up in priority above his top-secret long-term mission. But he’s not having any luck so far.”

“We could try our hand at finding out… Shall we linger by the refreshments?”

The two of them turn their backs on Itachi and walk toward the refreshments table, where two Suna genin teams and their chaperones are decimating the snacks.

“…Itachi-san?” He looks around and refocuses on Sakura, who is staring at him in confusion. “That was your sharingan, wasn’t it? What’s going on?”

He debates pretending that he wasn’t spying on the Konoha jounin, but decides that she is probably suspicious anyway. “Your village has been attacked, although it sounds like no-one has been injured. Sarutobi-san and Yuuhi-san were discussing how Wind Country has the resources to enter a war with Fire Country, which is much more powerful.”

Itachi half expects Sakura to say she doesn’t understand, but she frowns thoughtfully and says, “They think Suna has a secret ally?”

He smiles, pleased with her knowledge and deductive skills. “Precisely, Haruno-kun. If you look, they are trying to gather information right now, but I don’t think they’ll have much luck.”

“Wow!” says Fuu, making both of them jump slightly. Itachi hadn’t known she was awake; she has been drooling onto his leg for the last ten minutes. “So is everyone spying? I’ll help!” She bounces to her feet and starts to leave before Itachi catches her hand.

“Fuu, where are you going? You have no reason to care about a war between Fire Country and Wind Country.”

“Buuuuut… I _do_ have a reason to be invested in a certain Suna genin.”

“Do you mean the one who tried to kill you?” asks Itachi, aggrieved that he already knows her answer.

“Yep! Don’t worry, there’s plenty of jounin around here in case he tries again. _You’re_ here, brother, so I know I’ll be safe!”

“Are she and Sasuke… a thing?” whispers Sakura. It amuses Itachi that she seems to think of him as a confidant, considering that he is technically an enemy of her village, even if he is no longer listed as a missing-nin in the bingo book.

“Sasuke has only recently outgrown referring to her as his rival, although we adopted her as our sister three years ago.” Itachi doesn’t take his eyes off Fuu; she is almost completely surrounded by Suna nin, and though they look more curious than hostile right now he doesn’t trust the situation to remain stable. She’s talking to Gaara, gesturing energetically and bouncing on the balls of her feet. Itachi can’t see her face from here, so he doesn’t know what she’s saying, but he can read Gaara’s lips: “There is only one of me,” he says. He pauses while she’s talking and his face goes blank for a long moment (even more than normal, which is impressive), and then he frowns slightly. “You’re a—”

Fuu lunges forward to put her hand over his mouth. He clearly interprets it as an attack, because his sand wraps her in a tight cocoon. She coughs glittering dust in his face, making him wince and try to blink it away, but he doesn’t release his grip.

Fuu struggles, saying something in a low voice, and he replies, “No-one who says they want to be my friend fails to have an ulterior motive. Don’t think that you’re any different. I should crush you to death right now.”

Fuu says something else, gesturing with her chin toward a group of Kiri jounin, probably pointing out that Gaara would have a hard time if he tried to kill anyone now.

Gaara is silent, face completely blank like he hasn’t figured out what to put on it. “What do you want?” he says finally. Fuu tries to lean forward in her sand prison, looking earnest. She talks for a long time, and then Gaara’s sand slowly releases her—almost gently—to stand on the floor. She sticks out her hand, a clear gesture of friendship.

“You don’t know what kind of a monster I am,” says Gaara.

From her body language, Itachi can tell Fuu is rolling her eyes.

“Defeat me in single combat,” he says.

She turns and calls across the room, “Hey, Itachi! Can me and Gaara go outside and fight? He promises no kill shots!”

Itachi sees Gaara mutter, “I didn’t say that.”

He stands, flickers to within earshot, and says, “I will supervise. Temari-san, Kankurou-san, do you wish to come as well?”

Gaara’s siblings eye him distrustfully—he has no innocent reason to know their names, after all—but Temari nods and they follow Gaara and Fuu up to the observation platform on top of the watchtower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote all of Fuu's dialogue during the section where Itachi is reading Gaara's lips, but I didn't put it in because.... I thought it was more realistic if she was facing away from Itachi. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some blood in this one, both in text and the picture. Be aware!

Kankurou stands by the doorway, glaring at anyone who tries to exit onto the observation platform. Clearly he doesn’t want them to get a look at Suna’s jinchuuriki.

Gaara immediately opens with a crushing wave of sand, but Fuu is finally free to move without worrying who is watching. Her wings take her ten meters above Gaara’s head, and she uses a wind technique to disperse her blinding scale dust. It has the double advantage of blinding Gaara and allowing her to sense his movements through the chakra imbedded in the dust. A formidable technique, yet simple to execute. Choumei is very proud of it.

Gaara shields himself with a sphere of sand, using an enormous sculptural hand to disperse Fuu’s scale dust. The surface of the sphere sprouts spikes that fly at Fuu—she dodges them easily and returns a blade of wind that glances off Gaara’s shield.

“I know you’ve been hurt in the past,” she says, dodging more spikes, “but you’ve still got to keep trying! You don’t make any friends by threatening to kill everyone you meet!”

“I don’t need friends,” says Gaara, muffled. “My only purpose is to destroy the enemies of Wind Country.”

“Says who?” shouts Fuu. She quickly slashes three blades of wind into the sand shield, creating deep gashes that immediately start to heal themselves.

“My father, the Kazekage.”

“Why’d you have to listen to him? Sounds to me like he doesn’t like you very much.” She flies closer, still able to dodge his projectiles and the wave of sand that comes from behind to engulf her.

“He’s the ruler of Wind Country,” says Gaara, but quietly, like he knows it isn’t a strong point.

“And you’re the ruler of Gaara Country! Maybe you can defend people _and_ make friends! That’s what I do,” says Fuu proudly. One of Gaara’s sand kunai grazes her leg. “Oops! I defend my family because I love them, and I defend my village because I like to help people. And sure, some of them are afraid of me, but it doesn’t matter because I have good friends. And I want to be your friend too!”

Gaara doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t attack either, so Fuu moves closer, touches down in front of him, and holds out her hand again. “What do you say?”

A lance of sand stabs her through the gut.

She falls to her knees with a cry of pain that wrenches Itachi’s heart, blood soaking into her white skirt. He flickers to her side and begins healing her, keeping a sharingan on Gaara in case he tries anything else. “Well?” she pants. “Do you want to be friends, or not? D-don’t leave me, ugh, hanging.”

“Why do you want to be my friend? I just tried to kill you.”

“Why’d you… just try… to kill me? I want to be your friend.”

Gaara has nothing to say to that. His frown grows deeper as he stares down at them.

Suddenly Fuu laughs. It turns into a pained gasp, but she mumbles, “Sorry, Ch-choumei said something pretty funny. She says to tell Shukaku he doesn’t know a good thing… when he sees one. I dunno if she’s talking about you or… Oh, ha! Neither does she. I guess it wasn’t _that_ funny.” Fuu braces herself with a hand on Itachi’s shoulder and tries to get to her feet, not very steadily.  “I’m feeling a lot better now. Thanks, Itachi.”

“I’m not going to leave until you’re completely healed,” Itachi murmurs to her. “And until I can be sure Gaara won’t try to kill you again.”

“And I’m not going to leave,” gasps Fuu, “until Gaara gives me a straight answer. So what if you’re a monster? I’m one too, but I decided to be the nice kind. So what if your bijuu’s a raging asshole? I have some friends like that. Try out being nice, and if you don’t like it you can always go back to murders.”

Gaara sinks to his knees in front of her, staring vacantly at the blood soaking into the sand. “I don’t know how,” he whispers. “It’s been so long since I tried. I don’t understand how you…”

Fuu grins, coughs up a little blood, and opens her arms. “Try hugs, that’s always a good start. You put your arms around someone, but gently, and you hold them. It’s kind of like saying you’ll protect them.” She leans forward to embrace Gaara, who stiffly puts his arms around her too. “How’s that?” she asks quietly.

Gaara doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t move at all, which probably means he doesn’t hate it. Itachi glances to his left, where Temari and Kankurou are watching blankly, with microexpressions that indicate surprise. Gaara shifts, clinging more tightly to Fuu and halfway hiding his face in her shoulder so that only his dark-ringed eyes are visible, half-closed.

“I told you hugs are awesome,” Fuu whispers.

                              


	7. Chapter 7

Fuu manages to win her first solo match, even with a gut wound that has yet to start properly scarring. Itachi couldn’t talk her out of trying; if Sasuke was fighting, she had to fight too. Luckily, she has enough strong ranged attacks that she never has to engage a genin-level opponent directly.

That night, Itachi convinces Sakura to join him in healing Fuu by making it a lesson in medical jutsu. She tries to ignore Sasuke, who has a tight grip on Fuu’s hand but is silent, sulking that she got hurt while he wasn’t there. Or possibly because she got to fight Gaara and he didn’t. Sasuke’s presence seems to make Sakura shy; she only asks questions about technique and never looks up. This, coupled with her earlier question about Fuu and Sasuke being a “thing,” leads Itachi to believe that she has some romantic interest in his brother. Courteously, he tries not to think about it. She’s _twelve_ , after all.

Then again, he realized his feelings for Shisui earlier than that. He can only hope she doesn’t have to be as painfully self-aware as he was at her age.

Gaara comes to visit a few hours after sunset. Sasuke glares at him as he stands apprehensively in the doorway, but then he bows deeply and murmurs, “I am very sorry for the injury I have caused you, Fuu-san, and I am sorry for the pain it causes your friends.”

Fuu beams and pats the mat at her side. “It’s not a problem, really. It’s not the worst price to pay for a cool friend like you! Come sit! Tell me about your match! I didn’t get to see it because Itachi dragged me off to the hospital.” Chikusa, who’s sitting in the corner with a book, rolls her eyes.

Sasuke raises one eyebrow at Gaara and nods. Gaara comes tentatively to sit a foot away from Fuu’s bed.

“Did you just _give him permission_ to come sit with me, Sasuke? I swear, if you try to scare him off I’ll beat you up! I bet you’ll like him if you give him a chance.”

Sasuke makes a shallow bow, still scowling, and says flatly, “Honored to meet you. Uchiha Sasuke.”

“Gaara of the Desert,” says Gaara. He glances at Sasuke, then at Fuu, then starts to speak in a quiet monotone about his match.

He’s still there when Haromo and Naruto come in looking for Sakura. Fuu has gotten Sasuke to tell the story of one of their more farcical missions, and he’s much more animated than usual. Even Gaara looks relaxed, though he doesn’t smile.

Naruto kicks open the door and says loudly, “Hey, Sakura-chan, did you eat anything yet?” Then he notices the gathering and says, “Oh, are you having a party? I didn’t even know that bastard Sasuke _could_ look happy!” Sasuke gives Naruto his most poisonous glare. It is completely ignored.

“This means everyone’s here!” says Fuu happily, attempting to sit up. Itachi pushes her back down onto the bed. “All the jinchuuriki, at least.”

“You’re not just supposed to say that, idiot,” hisses Sasuke. “Haromo and Sakura didn’t know.”

“I don’t really get why it’s a secret,” says Fuu. “Anyway, hi, Naruto, I’m Fuu and Choumei. Or, I’m Fuu and she’s Choumei, but you can’t see her so that’s kind of pointless. Uh, she’s the seven-tails, is what I’m getting at.”

Naruto gapes at her. “What? Are you saying… you’re like me?”

“What’s going on?” asks Haromo.

“The bijuu!” says Sakura, looking up from Fuu’s abdomen. “Super-powerful creatures made of pure chakra that are sealed into humans to give their country a military advantage! How can you possibly have missed that?”

“Eh…” Haromo scratches the back of her head. “I never really paid attention in history class. I was more into the fighting part. That’s why I’m so great at taijutsu!”

“You suck at taijutsu,” Naruto tells her. She takes a breath to start shouting at him but he hits her over the head. “No, shut up. I want to know what’s going on, and what a jinchuuthingy is!”

“I want to know why we didn’t know you’ve got a bijuu!” says Haromo.

“I didn’t even know!” Naruto wails. “I kind of thought the fox was a one-off thing, I didn’t know there were other ones!”

“Dumbass,” says Sasuke. “A jinchuuriki is the human container of a bijuu. They don’t teach it in school because it’s supposed to be a _secret_. Especially the nine-tails att…” He trails off, clearly thinking better of telling Naruto that the beast inside him nearly demolished Konoha twelve years ago.

“It’s not a big deal,” says Fuu, flapping her hand at Sakura. “Anyway, the main thing I wanted to do was meet you, Naruto! I already made friends with Gaara, and he’s so cool, so I thought you might be cool too!”

Naruto stares at her for just a moment, then grins widely. “I’m not just cool, I’m _the_ coolest guy in Konoha. I’m going to be Hokage someday, you know!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These Children Never Shut Up, And I Love Them


	8. Chapter 8

Itachi has been debating with himself, unsure if he should shadow the Konoha group back to their village. It isn’t his place to get involved in the war with Suna, but even after four years and what Shisui refers to as _the Kakashi Incident_ , he still wants Konoha to be safe. He finally decides on sending a crow to Shibuki to ask permission to watch the situation there.

Suchi returns two days later, when they’re landing at the port of Steam Country. She carries Shibuki’s reply: _Wait for backup 2km east of Konoha. Do not let anyone see you. Report back daily by crow._ Itachi excuses himself to the other chaperone, and drops back to tell Sasuke and Fuu.

Sasuke, of course, wants to come. “I’m not letting you out of my sight,” he whispers. “Besides, Konoha used to be my village, too.”

“I’m going on a mission as a spy,” Itachi tells him. “You are not trained as a spy. You would hold me back.” Sasuke looks ready to argue, so he says, “I will handcuff you to Chikusa if I must. You are not to follow me.”

“Don’t you need someone to watch your back?” Fuu asks.

“Shibuki-san is sending me backup. Let me repeat myself: you will hold me back. If I am discovered because of your inexperience, the consequences may be dire for both us and the entire village. Return to Taki.”

“I want to go on a mission with you,” Sasuke mumbles. Itachi smiles, and taps him on the forehead.

“Sorry, Sasuke. Perhaps later. You can ask Shibuki-san to arrange something.” He flickers away toward the Fire Country border and runs for Konoha.

It takes him three days to get there. By the time he does, already tired and quite hungry, Shisui is waiting for him. “Infiltrating Konoha together.” Shisui’s voice comes from somewhere in the trees, unseen. “Just like old times, huh?”

“I’m glad you’re my backup,” says Itachi. “How long have you been here? Have you seen anything?”

“About eight hours, and no. But we wouldn’t exactly expect Suna nin to be coming from the east, would we?”

Itachi shakes his head silently, then does a transformation into a very boring-looking civilian. Shisui copies him, and they run the rest of the way into the village to have tea. They are very hungry, and they’ll need their energy in case evasive action is necessary. Incidentally, tea shops downtown are excellent places to listen in on gossip.

They don’t hear anything at the tea shop, so they linger in the shopping district until sunset. At that point they decide there won’t be anything to see today, and disguise themselves as merchants trying to make it to Tanzaku Gai before dawn, to leave by the gate. There’s another party of merchants there, one of them with very familiar chakra. Itachi recognizes the Oto “genin” from the chuunin exam, the one who must be Orochimaru.

He takes Shisui’s hand and tells him in tactile code, _Orochimaru. Probable attack. Leave quiet, reenter village._ Shisui nods and pulls Itachi toward the gate, waving at the gate guards. “Lovely place, Konoha!” he says. “So friendly! Thanks again!”

Almost the moment they step outside the gate, a distant _boom_ shakes the air and they look around, alarmed. A cloud of smoke is rising from the northeastern wall. Another bomb. Itachi would be willing to bet that _this_ time it really is meant as a distraction from whatever Orochimaru’s party is doing here.

And yes, when he glances over one of the “merchants” is in the process of filling the gate guards with shuriken. Shisui stiffens beside him. They were too slow. “Keep moving,” Itachi tells him. “We’re simple merchants. No reason to get involved in this. Let’s pray they don’t decide to…”

Unfortunately, they have already decided to remove all witnesses. Itachi steps in front of Shisui to deflect a hail of shuriken, injuring two of Orochimaru’s henchmen.

“What’s this?” says Orochimaru, currently disguised as a thin bespectacled woman. “You cannot be Konoha nin.” Shisui drops his disguise, which is now pointless, and Itachi follows suit. A smile grows on Orochimaru’s face, just a little too wide for a human face. “Why, it’s little Shisui-kun and Itachi-kun! I was going to settle for your baby cousin, but you’re so much… riper.”

“You’re not the only raiding party here, are you,” asks Itachi.

“No,” says Orochimaru, “not that you will have a chance to tell anyone. And who would you tell, Itachi-kun? You are in enemy territory, are you not?”

“I think the Hokage would listen to us if we told him about an invasion, even if we are from Taki,” Shisui says. “You haven’t exactly been subtle.”

Orochimaru continues to look amused, which is either a very bad sign or his permanent expression. “Well. Indeed not. I suppose I will just have to take care of that temptation myself and kill old Sarutobi before you can warn him.” To his entourage, he says, “Knock them out. Or die stalling them, I don’t much care which. But do not damage their bodies too much.” And he flickers away, leaving Itachi and Shisui to fight off two dozen ninjas.

It takes too long. Every time he thinks they can get away, their path is blocked again. In the distance, more bombs go off, and finally a section of the wall collapses. It’s almost twenty minutes before the last ninja is dead, and Itachi has to pause to siphon the poison out of a shallow wound on Shisui’s shoulder.

“What’s the plan?” Shisui looks up at him. “Do we try to intervene in their fight?”

“Are there Suna nin here?” he asks. “There must be. They’re working with Orochimaru. _He’s_ their supplier.”

Shisui gives him an odd look. “Yeah, probably. Why is it important?”

Itachi doesn’t know. He frowns, trying to trace the feeling. “Would the Kazekage be here?”

“Come _on_ , Itachi, let’s find out!”


	9. Chapter 9

They find Orochimaru and Sarutobi battling on the top of Hokage Tower, civilians in the streets below staring in spite of the ninjas trying to defend them and get them to shelter. Most of the attackers are Suna nin, which gives Itachi that feeling of foreboding again. He realizes he’s scanning them for a familiar face.

“Tell me if you see a boy, genin age, with red hair,” he murmurs to Shisui as he takes out one of the Suna nin with a thrown senbon through the eye. They are perched on a roof near the tower, sniping enemy combatants. “He would be among the invaders, I think.”

“Who is he?” Shisui hits another one with a kunai, leaving her spraying blood from her throat.

“The one-tail jinchuuriki, and a friend of Fuu’s. Until very recently he played the soulless killer, but now, I don’t know.”

“She’s powerful,” Shisui agrees. “So, what, you think he’ll refuse to fight? Would he see that as an option?”

“I don’t know. I want to find him, if he’s here, and… keep him safe.”

“And _I_ want to keep Sarutobi-sama safe. You okay to split up?”

Itachi turns fully to look Shisui in the face, frowning. “I don’t like it, but I agree that it will be a more efficient way to accomplish our objectives.”

Shisui cups the side of Itachi’s face, stroking his cheek briefly with one thumb. “Stay alive, and I’ll try to do the same. Okay?”

Itachi nods, heart in his throat, and Shisui vanishes. Itachi pauses to knock out another Suna nin fighting one of Konoha’s younger chuunin, then breaks into a run to find any trace of the Kazekage or his children. He’s never been so anxious during a battle, because he’s never been far from those he wants to protect. Now, he does what he can to eliminate threats as he sprints past, with his sharingan swiveling in his head as he catalogues every face he sees.

In the end, it isn’t difficult to find Gaara—or rather, to find Shukaku. Less than an hour after he begins searching, a roar shakes the ground west of Konoha. He thinks it’s another bomb, for a moment, but he can see the hunched, sand-colored back of an enormous creature. His scaled tail thrashes, knocking down trees and booming against the western wall. At least he isn’t inside the walls, knocking down houses.

Itachi stops on the top of the wall; the guards are all gathered near the one-tail, trying to drive him back, so there is no-one to see Itachi. Below, he identifies Temari and Kankurou trying to stay out of Shukaku’s way, and a small platoon of Suna nin shouting something he can’t quite make out. He creeps closer and starts to hear what they’re saying.

“You dumb beast! Go _inside_ the walls! _You_ aren’t a pacifist now too, are you?” That must mean Gaara refused to fight. But Itachi can’t think of a reason Shukaku would pass up a chance to destroy humans, from what Choumei says about him. “Go! GET IN THERE!” shouts the squad leader. He executes an earth release technique that jabs ten-foot-long spikes of rock into Shukaku’s side.

Shukaku roars again and swipes at the squad, which scatters. The Konoha wall guards don’t seem to have the restraint to see how this plays out, so they too are attacking. They are shooting fire and water blasts at his head, which is turned away, his back hunched against the attacks. Itachi frowns, and flickers over to knock them all out. They should wake in ten minutes, and it doesn’t look like Shukaku is planning on destroying the wall. Or, is it that Gaara is holding him back?

He jumps onto Shukaku’s back and climbs toward his ear. “Shukaku, Gaara,” he says. “I thank you for your restraint in not destroying Konoha. But it seems these ninjas are causing you trouble. Do you want me to get rid of them?”

“Idiot,” Shukaku growls. “Do you think I couldn’t if I wanted to?” It’s definitely his voice, not Gaara’s.

“I don’t know if you could get rid of them nonfatally,” says Itachi, “though it seems you’re unwilling to kill them.”

“Shut up!” It comes out as a screech. “Of course I want to kill them! The brat keeps distracting me!”

“May I speak to him?”

“Who the fuck do you think I am!” screams Shukaku. Itachi waits. Shukaku lashes his tail into a stand of trees, causing Temari and Kankurou to run for new cover, and sends a wave of sand toward the squad of Suna nin. “Fine. I don’t want to talk to you anyway… Itachi-san?” His voice changes, not losing its growl but gaining the breathy overtone of a thirteen-year-old.

“Hello, Gaara-san,” says Itachi. “I take it you don’t really want to be here.”

“I am a weapon,” Gaara mumbles. Itachi thinks the frustrated growl in his words is Shukaku’s. “Still, in their eyes, I am a weapon. I’d rather be negotiating than this, but we’re not fighting _for_ anything. Our entire village has been hired as… as a distraction.”

“Why are you in bijuu form?”

“I wasn’t able… agh.” His voice changes back to Shukaku’s. “Don’t say I couldn’t have defended you in your weak little human form, brat! You’re the one who couldn’t handle it and broke down! You should be grateful to me for taking over!” A pause. Gaara’s voice again: “I am grateful. You didn’t have to defend me that way, but you did.” When Shukaku seems to have nothing more to say, Gaara continues, “Yori’s squad tried to goad me into transforming by attacking me. We were brought here to destroy Konoha and they didn’t think we would refuse.” Shukaku bangs the wall loudly with his tail. “I wouldn’t refuse! I’d destroy these insects in a second! If I didn’t have to share a head with you and your _nagging_. You’ve been a pain in the ass since you grew a spine.”

Itachi glances down, trying to gauge whether it’s safe for Gaara to transform back. Yori and his squad are looking up, confused—they probably can’t hear Gaara or Itachi speaking, only Shukaku. “If you return to human form, I will stand with you. I only ask because you are causing damage to the wall, and it will be a little irritating to rebuild.”

“A LITTLE IRRITATING?” Shukaku screams. “THE DEVASTATION I WREAK ON THIS WORLD IS NOT _A LITTLE IRRITATING_! I LEVEL CITIES! I—” He stops for a moment, as if listening to an internal voice. “ALL HUMANS DESERVE TO BE DESTROYED, YOU IDIOT! YOU HEARD HOW THEY TREAT THEIR JINCHUURIKI, WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT THEM?” He’s listening again, and then he says, “I don’t give a shit what you think, brat. Don’t treat me like a dog. I DO WHATEVER THE FUCK I WANT!”

And he lunges at Yori’s squad, squashing twelve men into splatters on the ground. The other four, who try to flee, are caught in waves of sand, which stain red as they crush the people inside.

“There,” growls Shukaku. “I feel better already. Think I’ll take a nap.” His body seems to disintegrate into sand and vanish, leaving Gaara to fall limply to the ground.

Itachi can’t catch Gaara, but goes to him to see what he can do. Gaara’s skin is peeled back in places, showing large red blisters that look incredibly painful. Itachi calls up healing chakra and goes to work, so that by the time Gaara’s eyes flutter open it should be unpleasant, rather than excruciating, to move.

“Thank you, Itachi-san,” mumbles Gaara through cracked lips. “I’ve never had someone else heal me after…”

Itachi helps him to his feet. Fifty meters away Temari and Kankurou are coming out of hiding, warily watching Gaara as if he might still decide to kill them. “It’s the least I could do. Do you think your siblings would be able to tell me more about the political reasons behind this war? It seems you’ve been kept in the dark.”

“Could, but wouldn’t,” says Gaara. “They’re loyal to Suna.” Is that meant to imply that Gaara isn’t? Interesting. “But I can tell you… the last time I saw the Kazekage he was different. He felt different.”

“Are you saying that his mind has been taken over?”

Gaara frowns, watching Itachi’s hands glowing on his arm. “Something like that. Instead of a tower he felt like a pit.”

There’s no use trying to decipher that metaphor, so Itachi just says, “Will you be all right if I leave? I need to return to my partner and the fight between Orochimaru and the Hokage.”

“I’ll come with you,” says Gaara.

He will slow Itachi down, but it sits better with Itachi than leaving him behind. Itachi nods, leaps to the wall to run up to the top, and Gaara follows on a levitating disc of sand. His siblings shout something at him, uselessly, unaware that it will be the last time they see him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so hard to get Shukaku to do what I want him to do.... I'm sure that's exactly how he wants it.


	10. Chapter 10

They are too late. Sarutobi is dead and Orochimaru gone, and by the time Itachi returns to the tower all that is left is Shisui, hunched against the roots of an tree that shouldn’t be growing on the roof of a building. He looks up with dead eyes, sitting next to Sarutobi’s corpse.

When Itachi gets close enough, Shisui pulls him down against his side, leans his head on Itachi’s shoulder, and sighs. “Couldn’t stop them, they had a barrier up. Sarutobi gave himself to the death god, from looking at these seals. I don’t know what he sealed, though, because Orochimaru got away. Though I find it very suspicious that someone was using the First Hokage’s jutsu.” He frowns and looks up again, at Gaara. “Want to introduce me to your friend?”

Gaara is hanging back, pretending not to stare at the two of them. Itachi waves him over and says, “This is Gaara of Sunagakure, one-tail jinchuuriki. He refused to fight today, although his bijuu didn’t.”

“Under other circumstances,” says Shisui, eyes closed, “I’d be pleased to meet you, Gaara. Now I’m just… tired. I want to get out of this village.”

Itachi wraps an arm around Shisui’s shoulder, trying to give him some small comfort. “What will you do now, Gaara?”

Gaara stares silently. It seems like he doesn’t know.

“Do you _want_ to go back to Suna?”

“No.” Gaara looks down at the fallen leaves covering scorch marks and scattered chunks of cement.

“Are you thinking of bringing him back to Taki?” asks Shisui sharply. “You know that will upset what peace there is between the elemental nations. It’s a bad idea.”

Gaara wraps his arms around himself and doesn’t look up. Itachi’s heart aches for him. He has never belonged anywhere.

“Shisui seems to be suggesting that your only options are to return to Suna or become a missing-nin,” murmurs Itachi. “I wish I could give you a place, but he’s right. I cannot endanger my village. It would not take Wind Country long to turn their wrath on us if they thought we were stealing you.”

Gaara nods.

“However, we’d be delighted if you visited.”

“Itachi!” Shisui hisses. “I know you’re not stupid.”

Itachi ignores him. “I’ll do my best to teach you how to evade hunting patrols on the way back to Taki, and we can put you up for a few days before anyone thinks it’s odd.”

“Thank you,” Gaara mumbles. “I understand that you can give me limited help, and I am grateful for what you are able to do.”

Itachi rises to put a hand on Gaara’s shoulder. “And I am sorry we cannot do more. Shisui, come on.”

Shisui grumbles as he gets to his feet, but he bows to Gaara. “I’m Uchiha Shisui. I’ll probably be a more gracious host when… I’ve eaten.”

Itachi thinks that what he really needs is time to stop blaming himself for Sarutobi’s death. He holds Itachi’s hand tightly halfway back to Taki, and Itachi is glad of it.

 

                

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just curious, is anyone actually interested in a story where itachi and shisui get together and start dating?


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of Taki Adventures Part 2! The next one is Gaara POV (because I couldn't figure out how to do jinchuuriki adventures from Itachi POV, SORRY MATCHYNISHI) and I will start posting it on Friday. Can't stop won't stop.

“Isn’t this dangerous?” Sasuke eyes Gaara from his seat at the kitchen table, where he is sharpening his knives.

“You mean isn’t this _awesome_?” Fuu grins at Gaara, who can’t quite manage to return her smile. “We’re getting a new brother!”

“Not quite,” says Shisui. “He can’t stay for long. Suna might get the wrong idea.”

“So where’s he gonna live?” asks Fuu, frowning.

“I’ll wander,” says Gaara softly.

“Well, you can still be our brother, even if you live kind of far away!” Fuu grabs his arm and drags him to sit at the table. “Like, our brother who’s away on a secret long-term spy mission.”

“He’s not _my_ brother,” says Sasuke. “I barely know him.”

“Fine, he’s your cousin. He can be in Shisui’s family, like me.”

Sasuke glares at Fuu, clearly unable to decide whether to argue the point or try to pretend he’s more dignified than she is. “Whatever. Let’s just get him some food.”

Gaara leaves after one day, determined not to overstay his welcome, but he comes back a month later, thinner yet more peaceful. Sasuke immediately drags him off to spar, and it seems that he’s learned a few non-sand-based techniques. Fuu insists that he tell them about all of his _adventures_ , and Shisui makes him eat thirds at every meal because he needs to put on some weight. He huddles with Fuu and Itachi under a blanket, the second night, to whisper to them how he’s trying to come to a truce with Shukaku. He and Fuu fall asleep holding each other.

Shibuki, for his part, graciously ignores the second jinchuuriki staying in his village (though he does make sure Itachi knows Gaara _won’t_ be staying long). And Gaara leaves again.

He comes back every month or two as Sasuke and Fuu go on longer and more difficult missions. Sometimes he misses everyone but Itachi, and they eat in comfortable silence. Sometimes he brings stories about other jinchuuriki he’s met—three other missing-nin so far, all of whom were wary (even when he called their bijuu by name) but willing to share a meal. He talks fondly of Roushi, who he says reminds him a little of Fuu, and who sometimes teaches him new jutsu. Once, he carefully draws a picture in response to Sasuke’s questions: Roushi is even smaller than Biso, not even five feet tall, but when he gets going he’s loud enough for three people.

At the end of the first year Gaara brings one of his missing-nin to Taki, a thin boy with half-closed golden eyes who tries to pretend he’s unimpressed and uninterested in Fuu’s solicitousness. Later in the autumn he somehow manages to coordinate his visit with one of Naruto’s missions, and they are able to talk about Konoha’s tentative peace with Suna. Gaara is pleased to find that his sister has become Kazekage after training hard for months to prove she can protect the village. Itachi is happy that Tsunade of the Sannin, _not_ Danzou, is the new Hokage.

Gaara is happier than he was. Sometimes he looks at people’s faces now, sometimes he laughs. He lets people embrace him, and no longer flinches at anything. Watching him take Sasuke’s teasing, sitting on the railing of one of Taki’s many bridges with a tray of dango, makes Itachi think that saving one person could be just as important as saving a village.

 

                                                              

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pic once again unrelated to chapter. I just wanted to draw Temari because I have a crush on her.


End file.
